Senate panel votes on DeVos today

TIME FOR SENATE PANEL TO DECIDE ON DEVOS — The Senate HELP Committee this morning will vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos — who has emerged in recent weeks as one of President Donald Trump’s most contentious Cabinet picks and gave an uneven performance during her confirmation hearing. Here’s what to expect as the committee convenes at 10 a.m. this morning:

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— Democrats are largely united in opposition. Nearly all of the committee’s Democrats, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have pledged to vote against DeVos, though Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has not publicly taken a position.

— Sen. Patty Murray, the committee’s top Democrat, who had sought to delay today’s vote, will register her “strong objections” to HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) moving ahead with DeVos’ nomination. “Our jobs should be scrutinizing these nominees, not protecting them,” the Washington Democrat will say, according to prepared remarks provided by her office.

— A key question that was still unanswered as of Monday night washow two moderate Republicans on the committee will vote. Neither Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) nor Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have publicly said whether they’ll back DeVos’ nomination. Collins appeared supportive of DeVos during the nominee’s confirmation hearing two weeks ago while Murkowski had the toughest questions for DeVos of any GOP senator on the panel.

— Republicans have largely rallied around DeVos, and there’s no indication that any plan to break ranks. Alexander has praised DeVos as an “excellent choice” for education secretary and he’s accused Democrats of "grasping for straws" in their opposition to her.

— The committee meeting begins at 10 a.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Watch live here.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING AND WELCOME TO MORNING EDUCATION. I’m headed to Philadelphia later this week to hang out with some higher education journalists at an Education Writers Association conference. I’ve only been to Philly a few times before. Where should I go? … Drop me a line with your tips and feedback: mstratford@politico.com or @mstratford. Share event listings: educalendar@politicopro.com. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

DEVOS ADDS TO THE RECORD: Betsy DeVos on Monday finalized answers to hundreds of written follow-up questions from Senate HELP Committee members. The answers detail the billionaire nominee’s views on the federal role in higher education, school vouchers and protecting civil rights. Read DeVos’ wide-ranging responses to Sen. Patty Murray’s questions here.

— Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) asked what DeVos would do with the College Scorecard rolled out under President Barack Obama. The nominee said she would “review the information that the Department currently collects” and evaluate how it aligns with requirements under the law.

— Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) questioned her about comments she once made at "The Gathering,” a confab of the country’s wealthiest Christians. Back in 2001, DeVos said changing the education system would lead to "greater Kingdom gain.” In response, DeVos said that faith is very important to her and informs her work, but she added: “I do not believe in imposing my faith on others and, if confirmed, I will implement the laws as intended by Congress. That includes the provisions about the prohibition against religious instruction in schools.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders asked whether Devos believes climate change is real. She said the Education Department is prohibited from dictating curriculum and she would “respectfully defer” to other agencies such as the Energy Department.

— Sen. Elizabeth Warren queried how she would ensure equity in the distribution of district resources. DeVos replied that state and local funding systems are complicated and vary by state. “Decisions about those systems are best left to states and their elected officials who have a better understanding of their resources and needs,” DeVos said. “If confirmed I will commit to discussing this issue with you, to gain a better understanding of your goals, and see what the appropriate federal role might be.”

— Asked by Sen. Tim Kaine how she’ll hold federal student loan servicers accountable, DeVos said she “will strive to do a better job than the previous administration at managing all of the department’s contractor and will ensure they follow all the appropriate consumer protection laws as those laws were written.”

— In addition, DeVos wrote in response to Kaine that she would “defer to the judgement of state and local officials” when it comes to racial disparities in school discipline policies. “I do not think the nation’s governors want me to come to their states and tell them what to do,” she said.

PRAISE AND CRITICISM OF DEVOS PILE UP: More than 250 civil rights groups have signed a letter opposing Betsy DeVos’ nomination, arguing she would “undermine bedrock American principles of equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and public education.”

— DeVos’ former advocacy group, the American Federation for Children, has compiled a list of Democrats backing her.

— LGBT advocates are not reassured by DeVos’ support for gay marriage. The Human Rights Campaign sent a letter to senators urging them to vote against DeVos. “Support for marriage equality and assertions of her private support for individuals does not give us any clearer understanding of what actions she will or won’t take as secretary,” the letter says. “Questions still remain, for example, about whether Mrs. DeVos will support the previous Department of Education’s guidance clarifying that federal Title IX prohibits discrimination against transgender and gender non-confirming students.”

GROUPS PUSH TO INCLUDE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE IN ESSA PLANS: Parents, students and advocates from the Dignity in Schools Campaign and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., are urging states to cut down on exclusionary discipline practices in state plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act. “School disciplinary practices impact school quality and students’ educational success,” the coalition writes. “There is ample research showing that positive school climates will increase several aspects of student success, including school attendance, academic achievement and graduation rates.” The coalition writes that school climate should be measured using school discipline data, student and parent surveys and any other measure chosen by states. “ESSA requires that states and school districts publish this school discipline data on annual report cards,” the groups write. “Therefore, using this data to measure school climate would not be an added burden.”

— Meanwhile, state leaders should "assume that the U.S. Department of Education will say yes"to their ESSA plans, HELP Chairman Alexander told a crowd of more than 700 school board members and state education leaders at the National School Boards Association Advocacy Institute meeting in D.C. “You will have a president and an education secretary who do not believe in a national school board. They believe in you. They want you to make those decisions.”

COLLEGES PLAN APPEALS OF ‘GAINFUL’ DATA: More than 200 colleges have indicated they intend to appeal the Education Department’s determination that one or more of each school’s programs has failed — or is close to failing — the “gainful employment” rule. The colleges, mostly for-profit institutions, notified the department of their plans to appeal the debt-to-earnings rates of 536 individual programs, according to a Morning Education analysis of federal data released Monday.

— The colleges that are set to file the most appeals are: Vatterott College (appealing the debt-to earnings rates of 34 programs); Virginia College (27); Brightwood College (23); Kaplan University (21); Academy of Art University (16); and Full Sail University (12).

— The appeal notices were filed before a Jan. 23 deadline; colleges now have until Mar. 10 to submit a formal appeal of the data for those programs. Congressional Republicans have long targeted the Obama administration’s gainful employment rule for elimination. Betsy DeVos has said she’d review the regulation, if confirmed, but has not committed to any particular course of action.

PRE-K FUNDING GETS SOME LOVE: Republican and Democratic governors, legislators and state boards of education are showing continued support for public preschool programs. A new report out today by the Education Commission of the States finds that 30 states increased funding levels for pre-K programs in the 2016-2017 school year. It says state funding for pre-K programs increased by nearly $480 million — or 6.8 percent — from a year earlier. In the last five years, the report says, such funding has risen 47 percent.

WHERE PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES STAND ON TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION ORDER: The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has compiled the responses of its member institutions to President Trump’s controversial executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. See the roundup here.

DOES TRUMP NEED TO REASSURE THE WORLD? University of Texas Chancellor William McRaven is urging the Trump administration to “send the message to the rest of the world that the United States remains open and welcoming to those who want to come here to learn, work and to live the American experience.” In a statement issued Monday, McRaven — a former head of U.S. Special Operations Command who spearheaded the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — said: “I believe that the talent, energy, and ideas flowing into the United States of America — and to UT System institutions — from countries around the world are among our greatest strengths. The men and women who show up at our shores and our doors — ready to study, work and participate — make us stronger, smarter, more competitive, and more attuned to the rest of the globe.”

BOY SCOUTS ADDRESSES GENDER IDENTITY: The Boy Scouts of America on Monday announced it will begin accepting transgender children who identify as male. “For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs,” the organization writes. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.” More.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

— Heather Foster, who previously worked in the Obama White House’s Office of Engagement and the Education Department, is now a vice president at Widmeyer Education.

— Kevin Chavous, a founding board member for the American Federation for Children, joined the board of directors for K12 Inc. this month. More.

REPORT ROLL CALL

— A new study published by the American Psychological Association finds that chronic or increasing levels of bullying are linked to lower academic achievement.

— The Urban Institute is out with a new brief on the “sharp rise in college living costs.”

SYLLABUS

— Betsy DeVos has funded groups that champion “intelligent design,” and some science educators believe she may seek to undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools: ProPublica.

About The Author : Michael Stratford

Michael Stratford is an education reporter for POLITICO Pro. He most recently covered federal higher education policy and student loans at Inside Higher Ed, with previous bylines at The Associated Press, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Stratford grew up in Belmont, Mass. and graduated from Cornell University, where he was managing editor of The Cornell Daily Sun.